Written by
Benjamin Daniels
5 mins read
How KNVB attracts young gamers to football using the tournament platform from StriveCloud
If sports organizations want to attract a younger audience and grow, then they cannot ignore esports. And this is especially the case in football! According to Steam, FIFA 2022 currently engages as many as 80,000 players at any one time. To get in on this action, the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) decided to launch an ‘E-Football’ strategy to bring them closer to their fans. And that brought them to StriveCloud! Using our tournament tool, KNVB built its own esports platform to engage FIFA players in The Netherlands.
Read on to find out exactly what KNVB wanted to achieve, and how we at StriveCloud were there to make it happen:
- How Jantje.gg started (and where they are heading)
- How KNVB offers a complete e-football experience to fans on Jantje.gg with StriveCloud
- 4 benefits Jantje.gg sees in using StriveCloud
- How StriveCloud’s community & tournament tool works
- Why KNVB chose StriveCloud to launch their esports platform
- How you can get started too
- FAQs
How Jantje.gg started (and where they are heading)
When you look at the continent as a whole, Europe sends more players to esports tournaments than any other. Simply put, the enthusiasm is there. And Nick Hoogebeen recognized this opportunity! As the E-Football Partnership Manager for KNVB, Nick saw that the Netherlands was lacking an esports platform that could help grow and support amateur Dutch FIFA talent. And so in 2021, KNVB launched Jantje.gg.
“Jantje.gg is our E-Football platform on which we would like to create the go-to an environment for grassroots amateur FIFA players in the Netherlands. By organizing online FIFA tournaments players can develop themselves, learn from each other, and get in touch with the real football game. ” – Nick Hoogebeen, E-Football Partnership Manager @KNVB
So far, the esports platform has succeeded in building an audience of early adopters. Next up, Nick hopes that Jantje.gg will host more tournaments, and in turn, this will snowball into a greater reach across the country. To find the best FIFA talent, Jantje looks to attract users aged 12-25, who they believe have the potential to become the “best FIFA player of their region or high school”. And with our tournament tool, they found the perfect fit between organizing online tournament events and growing the community!
How KNVB offers a complete e-football experience to fans on Jantje.gg with StriveCloud
Without a doubt, Jantje.gg is in it to win it. “We aim to create the biggest E-football platform in the Netherlands”, Nick says. Eventually, the goal is that the young FIFA players will be motivated to connect with the real football game. But to make that reality, Jantje.gg needs to create excitement – and that’s where our team at StriveCloud can help.
StriveCloud’s tournament tool is more than a simple bracket maker. Instead, our software focuses on creating a complete gamer experience. For one, our software comes with a wide range of community and gamification features that are designed to keep gamers engaged for the long haul.
And that’s especially true for young gamers like those Jantje.gg aims to reach! For example, think of gamification features like points, leveling systems, and rewards. These will feel familiar to a gaming audience. And with this familiarity, users are more likely to respond positively to any gamified triggers! In turn, players leave the platform satisfied and motivated to return for more.
“With StriveCloud’s help, we want our users to have a comfortable environment to play FIFA on. The user cycle of the platform is elegant, efficient, usable, and good to play FIFA on. That’s the most important thing.” – Nick Hoogebeen, E-Football Partnership Manager @KNVB
4 Benefits Jantje.gg sees in using StriveCloud
#1 Community features made to boost engagement & retention
Unlike other gaming tournament tools, our software emphasizes social interaction. Allowing gamers to connect with friends or other community members brings more activity to your platform. Furthermore, the sense of connection drives long-term retention.
To encourage that sense of social relatedness, our software enables you to implement leaderboards, community feeds and comments sections, just to name a few features.
#2 The tech is already built for you
“With other platforms, we checked we really had to build a new platform from scratch, including the technology.” – Nick Hoogebeen, E-Football Partnership Manager @KNVB
When you use our tournament tool, you don’t start from square one. Instead, you’re getting an all-in-one solution that’s ready for you to make your own! To be sure, this advantage can help you along your journey without sacrificing quality and security.
#3 You have full control over the gamer experience
It’s crucial to make your esports platform your own, not just to boost your own branding, but also to keep your gamers engaged. Essentially, customization means control over the user experience! And with our white-label tournament tool, you can create a holistic and impressive fan experience across the whole platform.
Furthermore, it integrates with the tools you already have such as your CRM or webshop. For example, Jantje.gg’s webshop integration allows users to exchange coins for real-life prizes.
“For us, it was important that we could bring our own look and feel to the platform. And that was all possible on StriveCloud.” – Nick Hoogebeen, E-Football Partnership Manager @KNVB
#4 You keep all the data!
With us, building your own esports platform means keeping your own data. Why is that so crucial? Well, it means you can use the data generated through your platform and leverage it to benefit your whole business strategy.
“[It is important for us to] integrate our own data from our own association with the Jantje.gg data, so that we can bundle them for one corporate online marketing strategy.” – Nick Hoogebeen, E-Football Partnership Manager @KNVB
How StriveCloud’s community & tournament tool works
StriveCloud is a 360° white-label tournament solution to build active and loyal gaming communities. Our solution allows you to control the full gamer experience by connecting tournaments, community, and content sharing in one place. Essentially, we try to build & provide the tools so you can build your own “Facebook for gamers”.
But how does our community & tournament tool really work? Let’s run down the features in the StriveCloud toolkit:
Tournament engine. You can organize events for every type of game! Need a league, a knock-out tournament, or something else entirely? The choice is yours.
Community features. User profiles are just where StriveCloud communities start. To foster deeper social relations, you can implement social feeds and comment sections.
Gamification & loyalty features. Gamification supercharges motivation – and gamers are a great audience for that! With features like points, challenges, and levels, your fans will become more engaged, and in turn, more loyal.
Advertising functionality. Our tournament tool empowers your esports platform to go further and be truly unique with custom brand pages and branded tournaments.
Monetization possibilities. Think premium packages, sponsorships, and customized advertisements. Esports is a notoriously under-monetized industry compared to other sports, and we want to help turn that around and make your esports platform profitable!
Why Jantje.gg chose StriveCloud to launch their esports platform
When KNVB searched for a partner to help create Jantje.gg, multiple companies reached out. But when it came to Nick’s priorities, the choice was clear:
“For me personally, StriveCloud means that I can reach my marketing goals, make my own marketing strategy, and have control over my own marketing campaign implementation…StriveCloud offers a very good system, that I would for sure recommend.” – Nick Hoogebeen, E-Football Partnership Manager @KNVB
In the end, KNVB chose StriveCloud because our platform offers more control, more customization, and more overall capabilities.
How you can get started too
After years of experience in esports, we’ve developed a three-step plan to getting any esports platform off the ground and into the world:
- Book a demo. – It’s quick and easy. Take a tour with our in-house experts and learn exactly what our tournament tool can do for you.
- Together, we set up the platform & customize it. – Are you convinced StriveCloud is the right move for you? We’ll help you set up the platform, add your own unique brand content & establish the necessary integrations to support your growth strategy!
- Onboard your team and launch! – Our team will work side-by-side with yours, making sure the process is smooth and that your team is confident using our software.